By Sherin Elizabeth Varghese
(Reuters) -Gold prices eased on Tuesday, slipping from an over one-week peak as the dollar held firm, while investors awaited a batch of delayed U.S. economic data that could help refine expectations for future Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Spot gold dipped 0.2% to $4,129.89 per ounce by 0942 GMT, after surging more than 2% in the previous session. Prices earlier in the day hit their highest level since November 14.
U.S. gold futures for December delivery were 0.8% higher at $4,126.60 per ounce.
The dollar hovered close to last week’s near six-month high, tempering bullion’s upside as a stronger greenback makes gold more expensive for other currency holders.
“We’ve seen a broad lift across assets, partly because markets are reassessing the timing of the next Fed cuts,” said Nitesh Shah, commodities strategist at WisdomTree.
“The drip-feed of data delayed by the shutdown is adding volatility, but the underlying fragility in the market continues to work in gold’s favour. Even today’s pullback looks like a regular correction after prices ran up too fast.”
The U.S. will release retail sales and producer prices data later in the day. Both datasets were postponed by the shutdown and the figures are expected to give investors a clearer sense of the Fed’s rate path.
Markets are pricing an 81% chance of a December rate cut and an 86% probability of a move in January, CME data showed.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Monday that the labor market had softened enough to justify another quarter-point cut in December, though further steps would hinge on the incoming data.
His remarks followed New York Fed President John Williams’ comments that rates could fall “in the near term.”
Lower interest rates tend to support non-yielding bullion.
Shah added that in a realistic scenario, a structurally softer dollar could lift gold towards $4,700 by 2026.
Elsewhere, spot silver was down 0.5% at $51.13 per ounce, platinum was steady at $1,543.46, and palladium lost 1.1% to $1,380.00.
(Reporting by Sherin Elizabeth Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
